‘Progress and Development’ Where Did The Money Go?

17 Feb 2011

This post is also available in: Iban, Malay

When Sarawak’s Chief Minister, Taib Mahmud and his logging cronies strong-arm the longhouse communities out of their Native Customary Lands they always promise the same thing.  They promise the people ‘progress and development’.  Most of the local people have received nothing for their valuable wood and lands.  Those who did get some compensation received just a few ringgit to buy some rice.  However, in return they were told that Taib would transform their lives and bring them into the modern world with roads and running water and electricity, schools, hospitals, further education and jobs as well, so they could afford modern lifestyles.

However, 30 years on, what do we see?  We all know that Taib and the logging gangs have cut down one and a half million square kilometers of valuable hardwood jungle worth billions and billions of US dollars in Sarawak.  Malaysia’s courts have ruled time and again that these were rightfully the Native Customary Rights territories of the local communities.  Yet  these people are now poorer than ever.

They no longer have their forests with fruits and animals to sustain them and their wonderful rivers have been destroyed.  The fish have died and the water is polluted and unsafe to drink or wash in.  River transport has been made dangerous by clogging weeds, which have grown because of the fertiliser from the oil palm plantations.  The waters are brown with the earth that is being washed away now that the trees have gone.  Meanwhile, it is immigrants who have been brought in to work on the plantations, while the local men get drunk on the virtually free rice wine that has been promoted by Taib.

Sarawak is Malaysia’s richest state with a tiny population, yet it has some of the country’s poorest people.  30 years on there are still no proper roads, no running water, no electricity for so many of the longhouse communities.  Their children have to be sent away aged 7 to boarding schools because there are no local teachers – many as we know have been raped on their journeys by loggers.  There are scarcely no medical facilities for these communities where, as we have exposed, the deathrates among women in childbirth are 3 times as high as the rest of Malaysia and 10 times as high as in the UK or Australia.

So where did all that money go?  Who has enjoyed all that progress and development?  As Taib Mahmud looks forward next month to the 30th anniversary of his position as Chief Minister, we have decided to publish some of the pictures which have been sent in by readers to Sarawak Report.  Taib of course has 10 siblings and 4 children and numerous family members, who all like to live in the same grand style as the small selection of homes that we have featured in this photo-gallery.

All the fortunate wealthy family members and political and business cronies, whose homes we have featured, have been the recipients of generous handouts of ‘alienated’ Native Customary Rights Lands or State Lands, by Taib Mahmud personally in his joint multiple capacities as Chief Minister, Minister for Resources and Planning, Chairman of the Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation, Chairman of the Land Custody and Development Authority and all the numerous other key positions that give him total control over Sarawak’s government and resources.

  • Rude

    My god. Am i more appalled by the thieving of these cockroaches parasites or the fact that we have allowed this scum to wipe their feet all over us these last 30 years? All I know is that it has to end now. These people need to be in jail , the wealth needs to be brought back to Sarawak and its people. Why doesn't Razak do anything? Maybe he is scarred of Taib? . Maybe Taib owns his ass and treats him like a poodle . Otherwise how can the federal government allow this behavior and take no action . Razak is also as corrupt as Taib or just his lap dog? This is truly shocking. Something has to been done and it has to be done before its to late .

    • Anak dayak

      Dear fellow Sarawakians! Taib is the most powerful leader in Malaysia! Najib, pak Lah, and even Mahathir, are all scared of him and his blackmagic bomohs!! And worst still, all the 71 ADUNs are terrified by Taib's stares and coughs! The DemiGod will rule Sarawak with iron fists! Only unity and unity alone can topple this power-hungry and carefree regime!! Wake up and fight for your rights, freedom and dignity!! Vote them out, not one but all these cronies!!!

  • najibrazak

    I am as corrupt as Taib?! Not possible. Mubarak maybe or Ghaddafi or other Arab leaders but me? Definitely not possible and I should know!

    Just a bit corrupt? Well we all have to live don't we? And I will certainly offer some attractive bribes to the electors of Sarawak when their state election is called by Taib.

    A simultaneous Federal election? I dont think so! Lets just see what happens.

    • imam frustrated

      najis kau kafir syaitan kawan mu menunggu mu…kau dan rosmah bomohkan isteri tuamu sampai dia jadi gila di london sekarang…atau romah bidadarimu bomohkan dia supaya engkau jadi pak turut….dahlah..semua tahu kau boleh tidur dgn sapa2 asal jangan bawa pulang nanti dia di c4kan…perdana penyamun…sama macam taik penyamun..sarawak..sedarlah diri kau tu…dah murtat..balik ke pankal jalan islam benar bukan plastic…

  • anti establishment

    Only one thing remains:How to change the mindset of the rural voters who are tied to BN by something no different from filial piety?

  • =87-

    A thousand curses to these bastards and bitches. I don't envy the rich. Only those who steal from the poor. These people have no fear of God. If only they had one iota of conscience…

    God has mercy upon their souls.

  • Iban rumah panjang

    I was told by my ex-PGA`s friend that the house is guarded by two sections of PGA (24 personnels) and five SB personnels. Wasting PDRM manpower.

  • http://www.Bukittunggal.Com/ Remaung6Renjer

    What type of evidence that the MACC needs to investigate and therefore prosecute Taib and his family members and cronies…

    Are they waiting for the natives who are the victims to go to the streets take the law into our own hands?

    I don't blame the native because they did not see what have been exposed here…the only things what they saw were the MRP in a form RM 5K per long house per every 5 years….

  • karma believer

    what goes up will come down.

  • http://sarawakreport nga2

    if i were nazib i would wipe out taib corruption partners. i believe all sarawakian will support BN. almost all chinese in sarawak vote for apposition not because of BN fault but because of our BIG THIEF MINISTER.over 30 years of corruption already. please do something NAZIB to prove that u reary dare what other scare to do.

  • anak jati

    30 years of corruption, put it to the end….wake up sarawakians……..by people, for people

  • http://none Wong Kan Tau

    Calling all F.C in Sibu to vote for TAIB in the coming GE.Remember that we F.C in Sibu will face hard life if we do NOT vote for TAIB.

    Kamsia Taib,lu kasih kami orang tanah besar besar,kayu balak,contract besar besar ,lebih besar dari class A.Orang orang lain gaduh sama sendiri ,,pasal kontrek class F,apa guna??

    Ada lagi kah Pek Mo Taib tanah besar dan lesen kayu balak..besar sekali

    • Lampu kidurong

      Haiya… Wong lu sudah lambat mau baik baik sama itu ulang.lu tengok itu taukey taukey lain sebab dia ulang pandei, dia ulang sudah jadi itu jutawan.camp balak ada ladang sawit latut latut ekar punya.kita ulang punya tanah NCR pun dia ulang kasi kebas punya .ini macam kalau mahu cakap pun salah talak cakap pun salah sebab dia ulang itu minister punya kawan oo.

      • AKIMANANG

        haiyaaaa…. pigi ngayau seksli lagi la….

  • http://- Punan Ba

    I agree,totally agree. It's high time these timber people STOP LOGGING before the jungles become naked,use their wealth to open up manufacturing goods and producing food. Look at the rich Singapore, she does not have timber yet very rich. Damned it,the illiterate Penans know better way to STOP logging why not the more educated locals. SCARED?

    Scared of what? Use the blowpipes……Oh NO, dismantle the logging bridges, burn the camps, the tractors, the lorries, what not……..

    Oh Yes,that's the way ahah…ahah

  • Rashid

    The obscenities carried out by Najib, Taib, Agong and sultans in the multi multi billions, murders, bashings and election frauds ARE BEYOND UNDERSTANDING.

    HOW CAN WE THE MALAYS COPE WITH ALL THE SHIT WHILE THEY LIVE LIKE KINGS AND QUEENS.

    I HOPE THE LOW RANK ARMY- THE LANCE CORPORALS, CORPORALS AND SERGENCTS- ONLY 100 OF THEM TO TAKE OVER IN PUTRAJAYA WITH GUNS IN COUP DE TA AND SACK FEDERAL AND ALL STATE GOMENS, GRAB 30 TOP BARISAN LEADERS TO JAIL AND HAVE FREE ELECTIONS WITHIN 6 MONTHS.

    I HOPE THOSE SOLDIERS WILL STAGE A COUP DE TA TOMORROW.

    • http://none Watch Dog

      Bro,our soldiers are coward but only good

      at collecting RM5 per 'ojek' at Serikin /Jagoi border point.You go and see that it is real

      Coup de tat…no bro,they are just too scared..our Malaysian soldiers have not reach that level yet. I am sorry to say and all these rest on our soldiers to vote in the next state GE

    • Lampu kidurong

      Helloo Rashid,

      I totally disagree with your sugestion.for me it's too much,because our army never do such thing before.don't be dahaka lah Rashid.

  • http://none mousedear

    Oh dear, PekMo Taib. Looks like we all want you to go now.

    In your Politics of Development, you have developed nothing for our rural folks.

    While we common chinese folks have nothing against you personally, we think you have failed Sarawak miserably; as a son of Sarawak, at the helm of the Sarawak government, you have turned out to be no statesman at all.

    How can you live so comfortably and luxuriously without any conscience for all Dayak brethren whom you have neglected ?

    As No. 1 in Sarawak, you have allowed the unjust federal gomen to control almost all aspects of our lives, and have no concern whatever over what the federal gomen does or neglect to do in Sarawak.

    Roads and transport to rural Dayak villages are neglected.

    Hospitals and medical care for rural longhouses are neglected.

    Educational facilities are also neglected.

    In this respect of education, we suspect your administration and the federal gomen are in a conspiracy to keep the Dayaks under-educated so as to make it easier to exploit.

    And as a way to enhance this conspiracy, to ignore and turn a blind eye to the difficulties that rural Dayak children face in getting their birth certificates and malaysian i.c which qualify them for school, medical attention, jobs, and voting.

    Further, Mr.Sarawak CM, you have allowed the federal gomen to mess up a perfectly sound education system that previously existed in the 1960s and early 1970s; so now our children not only speak broken English, they also speak broken Bahasa Malaysia.

    Further to that, while the federal gomen insists all Sarawak children must learn Bahasa Malaysia, the feds have come round to say they cannot pray to God in Bahasa ie cannot call God " A***h ".

    And while you are so called No 1 son of Sarawak, you have not gone out to defend the common Sarawak chinese against bigotry spewing from such as the likes of Toon Mahateh and Ibrahim Ali, who call malaysian chinese "pendatangs" and not Malaysians, and who want to kick pendatangs out of Malaysia.

    And further, you have not spoken out against the marginalization of, and discrimination against minority communities on the federal level. Like dumb and mute.

    Therefore, Mr. Sarawak CM of 30 years, we don't see you as fit to be Sarawak CM any longer.

    We want a real Sarawak statesman to take your place, one that really cares for the well being of all Sarawakians.

    We would bid you farewell soon.

  • NCR Land Owner

    The sequence of the News Should be as follows.

    A. All Voters should have a clear feeling of guilty conscience, that by Voting for Barisan Nasional is in agreement for Taib/Cronies to plunder/cheat and steal from the State.

    B. All Voters should knows that Voting for BN is like killing themselves, by agreeing and letting Taib to continuously stealing and taking away your NCR Land and property at his will and power and given to his Son – Titanium Management, Chinese Cronies – Shin Yang, Samling & Rimbunan Hijau.

    C. All Voters should understand that, Sarawak does not belong to Taib, it is for all Sarawakian and their future generation to live on.

    D. Sarawak is our ONLY and that is where we Sarawakian are to live on, and no other than this Land of Ours, Taib had been planning and buying lot of homes and properties overseas. So stop him from plundering our State and stealing from our Country any longer.

    E. Stopping Taib is just like giving you an extended life in your chest and body. The longer we let him rule Sarawak, the shorter we will live and that will lead to our demise that sooner than later. So get rid of our known enemies by these coming election and send him to jail together with his friends, cronies and relatives as well. Take back all the monies and properties that he had stolen from the people of Sarawak.

    F. Lastly show no mercies, hear no pleas and stop listening to his words of destruction on our life in Sarawak anymore longer.

  • theAlphamale

    Like one crony mentioned, this is survival. It's either I negotiate for my share with Taib or I get the petty share or maybe nothing. Just need to survive… Many who supports Taib are merely focussing on their own bank accounts. If Taib has no more contracts or business to give out, his support will surely diminish. They don't worry themselves about the rural Dayaks. As long as they are not affected, they will still plunder and try to make money out of their own people.

    Those who are suffering most are the ones in the rural area. As most are illiterate and uneducated, they will be easily deceived of their NCR land. Only through the ballot box can we see change. Hope this time around the Dayaks will come to realise their fate and start the momentum for change.

  • shredders

    rumah besar,harta banyak,tapi jgn lupa dosa yang banyak kau pikul juga nanti…

  • http://yahoo CK Chai

    Politicians are like past emperors and kings. Then those ancient politicians kill and destroy to achieve their ambition. Today it is race and religion and whatever….

    CM Taib Mahmud is a good brother. He really go all out to help his other siblings.

  • Lee

    We sarawakians have been shortchanged since 1963 when we joined malaya and our generations of families remain as poor as rats while the rich and well connected became super super rich. I like many many others DO NOT want to see our next generation children still walking thru the jungles hours barefooted /taking sampans to schools and become just general workers for life after form 5 – it's NOW OR NEVER to change the corrupted!ALL Sarawakians must stand up to defend our children lives.

  • anak sarawak porakpe

    Dear Thief CM, Your government have stole my small piece of land on the pretax of building a mini stadium at Matang Jaya for public use which I have no alternative but to accept it. 20 years have gone and the land is still vacant and hopes it does not change hand to your cronies. Now I become "Anak Sarawak Porak Peranda" without a single piece of land in Sarawak. May you all go to HELL with the illicit income you obtain from the poor people like us.

  • http://bernardendok@gmail anak iban.btg.rajang

    BN akan jatuh kalau macam ini .Mana tahan rasuah masih jadi menjadi di Sarawak kerana tidak dapat dibendung sama sekali.MACC tidak dapat diharapkan lagi takut kepada orang ini.Semua ini sudah menjadi mainan menteri-menteri di negara kita.Satu hari nanti Negara Malaysia yg. teratas sekali kes-kes rasuah di Dunia ini by 2020.Amin.

  • karma believer

    taib……..if you believe in bomoh……do you believe in KARMA.? jus see this year to make you believe.

  • Asagiri Yuu

    Couldn't we make a presentation what the Swk gov had done to us to all longhse? Show them what is differences by development. As you said if they can see these may be they understand why we fight for swk native freedom.

  • imam frustrated

    karma…dia ingat dia dapat beli karma…u ingat dia ingat dia tak dapat beli tuhan…dia sendiri cakap….ugama dapat dibeli…dgn wang ringgit….dia sudak angkuk n bongkak…kafir n murtat…org2 islam pun doa agar dia digulingkan amin…

  • EK

    SR,

    This is good.Keep it up.Pix shows a thousand words and easily understood.More pix esp of poor living cond of rural & long hse folks,poor rural facilities like poor roads,sch,clinics,place of worships etc after 50 yrs of ind.

  • EK

    More revelation of scandal pls esp very sentional one.Corruption,sex,exploitation,etc.

  • Vincent Vega

    Neglect the Dayaks, Marginalise the Malays, Hold the Chinese to ransom, deprive, divide, grind down, roll over, and now plead and beg, with gangsters, degrade the civil service, restrain, harness and corrupt the police service, all for the politics of development.

    Sarawakians, is it time for this man to prepare a plan of succession??? And do you think the next steward of sarawak is any better?

  • oA

    .

    Dayaks and Ibans have shown to white hair though that they can live in poverty very well.

    White must have taken that to be good faith from the generous and magnanimous natives.

    Giving big chunk of lands to white hair and maintain a small land for themselves – a small pice of land to grow a couple of banana trees, papaya trees, a few row of corns some water melon and house build of stilt so that below living space can rear some pigs, chickens etc. should be suffice for the native.

    Native sarawakians dont need too much to survive.

    Long Live Native Sarawakians.

    .

  • Goku

    Dear fellow bro..the most important we are spread to our family DO NOT VOTE BN during the coming election.

    Tolong sebarkan kepada keluarga kita supaya JANGAN MENGUNDI BN pilihanraya akan datang ini.

    Pastikan undi kita bukan untuk BN.

    “BERSEDIA UNTUK BERUBAH”

    Dr Goku

  • Kopiel Rentap

    It nothing wrong to be rich & famous but as a politician this is too much. You sucked our blood, came to our longhouses promise us with a up coming development. Billions of ringgit was robbed by our naked eyes for their families & friends. Why we poor sarawakian still obey them, they always talk rubbish in public

  • jantan

    not VOTE BN and PAS

  • Mubarak

    Insaflah kamu wahai Taib sebelum kamu di-insafkan. Kuburmu sedang menunggu. Tiada wang yang kamu bawakan ke kubur nanti. Terlalu banyak sumpah saranah dan maki hamun ditujukan terhadap kamu diatas segala penindasan terhadap rakyat dan rasuah yang kamu lakukan. Suatu hari, ada diantara sumpah saranah ini akan dimakbulkan oleh Yang Maha Kuasa….

  • imam frustrated

    amin….amin…yarabilaramin…bisimilahhirahmannirrahim….

  • http://google dohnyam

    ayo….. mcm mana bn blh tumbang kalau org swk sdiri msh vote bn. Msh mengampu, msh kata pbgunan cuma dibawa olh simbol dacing… Mentaliti org2 kita susah sgt nak diubah supaya jgn m'undi bn. Hbs hutan2 ditebang utk pmbalakan by cm's cronies… Skrg tanah2 sekangkang kera pula nak hbis dibuat pnanaman kelapa sawit… sluruh kws di swk… esp kws ulu2 … Untung apa utg utk kroni saja utk apa??? Kita rakyat swk yg begok… tdk pandai fikir…. Bila election msh kemaruk undi dacing…..

  • sarawakian

    Election is coming lets see what Taib will do.. either bring in few million of lolipop to the natives or make few more area available for voting zones

  • ApaiEndaSalui

    "Sorry, I am too busy" anak rakyat, says the gods in answering the peoples prayers for help. Didn't you see we already helped Tiab and his cronies?

    "You all have to be as smart as them to get my ears" says the gods.

  • hwings

    Happy to see this website, at least somebody still concern about Sarawak. Can Sarawak request for independent?

  • Botak

    Tahi mama mud bin saitan and family. Your GOD loves u and will forget u….

  • imam frustrated

    apa2 cakap banyak,satu hati satu jiwa kita goleng taib,saya pun sudah memeberi tahu jamaah saya supaya taib bukan islam tapi kafir macam babi takada nilai ugama.

  • http://none Watch Dog

    State Government Politics of development or BOLOTMENT.

    Federal Government Politics of 1 Malaysia.

    ***Now Najib and taib are squabbling on who is going to finance the state General election,is it Najib's US$800million? Or is it Taib? If Taib's going to finance,he wants an "immunity" so that he can bring his money back to Sarawak without Federal Government's interference.

    But that is not their money,the money rightfully belongs the Sarawak people from oil & gas,timber,and other natural resources.

    We need a good and clean government who is fair to all.